“Finally! We get down to the good stuff,” Kirby cackled.

Eberron started counting down from ten on his fingers under the table. Spike looked down and kicked his shin. It didn’t stop him.

“I’ve decided that Savannah should be his sponsor,” Brand said.

Eberron closed his last finger. Here it came.

Ashley straightened and leaned forward, her eyes narrowed. “You said he was my responsibility.”

“While—”

Savannah bristled and interrupted. “What? You don’t think I can handle a prospect, Ashley?”

Eberron leaned back and prepared to watch the show. His eyes bounced between Ashley and Savannah.

Brand wanted to slap a hand over his eyes. Now that Savannah’s pride had been pricked, he didn’t dare give Gideon to anyone else, even if he’d been open to suggestions.

“He’s new to town. Brand said he was my responsibility,” Ashley repeated.

“Was, now he’s mine,” Savannah riposted.

Eberron hid a grin. Savannah was being territorial.

“I know the duties of a sponsor.”

Savannah glared, what was Ashley trying to get at? “So do I!”

Ashley glared back at her. “I should be his sponsor,” she said.

“He’s part of the security team,” Savannah fired back. “And my partner.” When was Ashley going to see him?

“You don’t know his name,” Ashley muttered.

Spike spit tea into her glass. Damn it. Ashley wasn’t supposed to bring that up! There was money riding on that already and Ashley knew it. Or she thought Ashley knew it.

Savannah’s brow furrowed. What in hell did that have to do with anything? She promptly tossed the argument out as unimportant and not worth responding to.

Brand noticed the furrowed brow and look of confusion on Savannah’s face, and that she didn’t promptly spit Gideon’s name back to Ashley to prove she did know it. He held up his coffee cup to hide a grin. Gideon had been right. Savannah didn’t know his name.

He wondered how long it would be before Gideon got frustrated with her and snarled it at her to get her to stop calling him Prospect. Brand knew that Frankie had the book on it. If all the Club knew, and he was certain that most of them knew by now, then they wouldn’t tell Savannah and let the whole little drama take its course. Unless Ashley decided to blow it up. Someone had to have made bets on that too.

“I’ll take him,” Houston piped up.

Josiah coughed and sank into his seat. He put a hand over his mouth and his shoulder’s shook.

Kirby looked between each one talking like it was a tennis match. His eyes blinking like an owl behind his glasses.

Brand glared at him. “No,” he said. “Every time I turn around you’re taking my best people out from under me.” He wasn’t going to lose one of the best outside recruits he’d had in ages to the Nomad charter.

Houston grinned. “All right, we’ll let you get him broke in first.”

Brand’s glare turned into a glower. “You can’t have him. Period.” He turned to look at Ashley. “This isn’t a democracy on this one, Ashley. Savannah is to be the prospect’s sponsor.”

Ashley crossed her arms and glared at the table.

Brand hated explaining himself. Ashley was young. He’d make the exception. “He needs someone who can give him their full attention,” he said in a gentle voice, trying to temper the sting. “Savannah can do that.”

“She’s a year older than I am, I can handle it,” Ashley said.

“This isn’t about age,” Brand held up a hand. “Or length of membership, this is about what is best for the prospect.”

“And Savannah is best for the prospect?” Ashley’s words dripped with incredulous sarcasm.

Eberron and picked up his beer to snicker into it.

Ted watched Brand carefully. He’d noticed Brand’s grin about Savannah not knowing Gideon’s name. He noted that Brand hadn’t said anything about it. Yep, the prospect had himself a right conundrum on his hands. Ted reached out and grabbed the cake before Zane could grab the last slices. “For the prospects,” he said.

Zane sank into his seat.

Brand kept his focus on Ashley. “Savannah can give the prospect her full attention until he’s ready to ride on his own,” he said.

“And become a Nomad,” Houston interjected with cheer.

Brand ignored Houston. “You can’t,” Brand finished. “Therefore, Savannah is the better choice of a sponsor. The next prospect that comes up, we’ll consider you for their sponsor.”

Ashley nodded and it was reluctant.

“Right, Savannah is the prospect’s sponsor,” Brand said.

“God help the prospect,” Eberron said in a low voice.

“He’s got five years to prove himself one way or the other,” Brand said. “Esme would like to have a dinner or a breakfast this weekend to welcome him. All in favor?”

“Is it a dinner or a breakfast or couldn’t it be both?” Houston asked.

“I say dinner.” Savannah raised a hand. “The weekend doesn’t stop work on the roof.”

“Both!” Houston said but raised his hand.

Kirby cackled. “I’m with the young feller. Both!”

“Aye,” said Josiah.

“Aye,” said Knox.

“Aye,” said Zane.

Brand looked at the three of them. “Is that breakfast or dinner votes?”

“Both votes,” Houston said.

“I vote dinner,” Eberron said.

“Dinner.” Spike raised her hand.

“Dinner,” Padre added.

Ted raised his hand. “This is too limited of a pool of data to decide on breakfast or dinner,” he said.

Ashley raised a hand. “I don’t care.”

Brand shook his head. “It’s up to Esme either way. Aye,” he raised his hand. He looked around. “Any other new business?” No one spoke up. “All right, you know your assignments and if you don’t, see Ted. The next church meeting is here at five o’clock one week from now,” he said, reached over, picked up his gavel, and hit it on the table. “Meeting adjourned.”

Savannah leaned over. “Now do I get to give the prospect a hard time?” she asked in a low voice. She used the noise of those getting up and talking among themselves to cover the conversation. Eberron was getting out of Zane which pups wanted to form a band, and whose garage they were using, mostly Savannah thought so he could stay away from it. Knox seemed more interested in mentoring. He had musical experience.

“I’d rather you get him on a motorcycle,” Brand said in a low voice back.

“By the end of the week, I promise,” Savannah murmured. “I’ve got them picked out. It’s a matter of finding the time.”

“Pay won’t go through until next Monday,” Ted interrupted.

Savannah looked at Brand and raised an eyebrow.

“Wait until Monday then,” Brand said. “Then he’ll know he can afford it.”

“I can keep him busy enough that he won’t be thinking about it.” Savannah nodded. “He’s already forgotten about it once.”

Brand closed his eyes and repressed a whimper of laughter.

Ted grinned and picked up the cake. He better get the rest of it distributed to the prospects before someone came along and stole it all. It might be from a mix, but it still tasted decent. And the prospects deserved something for having their evening involuntarily interrupted.

“No. Really. He forgot,” Savannah said.

Brand gave up, leaned back in his chair and started to laugh.

---

The room had gone silent with an air of eager anticipation as the members of the Club stilled and strained their ears to hear what was going on in the chapel, to learn what had brought them all here in the first place, who was going to shepherd the new member of their pack.

Brand said the magic words, “Now about the Prospect.”

All eyes turned to Gideon.

Gideon shifted his balance again, distributing it on his feet evenly so he could fight or flee on moment’s notice. Now what?

Brand continued, “I have decided that Savannah should be his sponsor.”

Eyes widened and jaws dropped. Reese stared at Gideon. What had the poor boy done for Brand to torture him with Savannah?

Esme looked at Will and raised an eyebrow. See, the facial expression said, Brand has hopes. Will slid down into his chair and started to snicker.

Whitney squealed and slapped a hand over her mouth. She bounced in place. Gideon was lucky. All the younger girls who had any goth leanings or actually enjoyed their motorcycles wanted to be sponsored by one of the Fearsome Foursome, and Savannah, being the leader, was the most coveted sponsor of all.

Savannah and the rest of the Foursome did things. They were where all the action was. Gideon was going to be in the thick of what went on with the Club.

Gideon’s brow furrowed. He caught Whitney’s eyes across the room. ‘What is a sponsor?’ he mouthed at her, hoping she could read lips.

Whitney’s eyes widened further and she shook her head rapidly, giggling behind her hand.

The meeting erupted into a fight between Ashley and Savannah over who should actually be his sponsor and, to Gideon’s ears, Savannah sounded pissed. He edged away from the door and back towards the security of the doorframe. Were the two girls having a catfight in there over him?

Ashley accused Savannah of not knowing his name and Gideon’s jaw dropped when Savannah didn’t deny it. Oh hell. He needed to bang his head on something, hard. He was doomed and it was his own damn fault for not saying anything when they first met. This was going to be awkward and he had no idea on how to bring it up to her. He supposed he could hope she would bring it up, but Ted made it sound like that was completely unlikely.

Reese wanted to blink. Savannah really didn’t know Gideon’s name. He had thought that Ted had been joking when he’d brought it up. He’d made a bet with Eberron about it anyways. Eberron was sure that Savannah wouldn’t learn Gideon’s name until Violet came around the club. Reese thought someone would slip before then, to spite Eberron. However, Ted hadn’t been joking. Reese bit the inside of his lip. Maybe he should have laid down more money, and sided with Eberron. They needed to grab Frankie and make the rounds for more bets. This was too good not to get the rest of the Club involved.

A third party entered the fight, and Brand finally stepped in and ended it. Savannah was going to be Gideon’s sponsor, whether Gideon or Ashley liked it or not.

Eberron’s deep voice carried though he spoke in a low tone, “God help the Prospect.”

Gideon’s eyes widened. What was that supposed to mean?

Will’s eyes closed and he put a hand up to cover them as he began to shake from trying not to laugh too loudly. Esme sighed.

The meeting moved on. Reese looked at Gideon. “Good luck,” he said.

Gideon blinked. Savannah was five foot two. She barely came up to his chin. He could pick her up with one hand if he needed. What did he need luck for?

“Better you than me,” Quinn said, forgetting that his need to be sponsored was long over with. “Wow. Savannah.” He shook his head.

Gideon looked between them. “Umm, okay, I guess. What’s a sponsor?”

Quinn and Reese looked at each other. Quinn raised his hands and shook his head. He wasn’t going to explain. Reese looked at Gideon. “Look, every sponsor is different so I really can’t tell you and give you the wrong idea. Let’s say that every prospect has one and Savannah is yours.”

There was too much shock and surprise around the room to be justified by him being assigned to Savannah. Gideon shifted again. “You seem surprised.”

Quinn snorted. “Savannah has never had a prospect before.”

“And Whitney is bouncing,” Gideon pointed out.

“Oh Whit, she’s probably jealous.” Reese shrugged a shoulder. “Brand tends to assign the younger girls to the older women, so they don’t get in over their heads too quickly. And they want to be assigned to the Foursome.”

“Who was Savannah’s sponsor?” Gideon asked. He thought this might be a good thing to know.

“Brand,” Reese said. “Which was unusual, normally he doesn’t advocate for the Sponsor to be family or the opposite gender, but Savannah is Savannah.” He clapped Gideon on the shoulder. “I’ll see you around,” he said. “We’ll have to check out your auto sometime.” He grinned.

“Sure,” Gideon said, still confused. Brand and Savannah were family? He wasn’t sure they looked related.

Reese walked over to the bar and wrapped his arms around Dakota, nuzzling her hair.

The door opened and people started coming out of the room. There was talking. Gideon could hear Brand laughing over something. Ted stopped in the doorway. “Got your plate, Prospect,” he said. Gideon picked his plate up and Ted forked a piece of cake on it. “It’s a mix, it’s not bad,” he said with a wink. He paused seeing Gideon’s chopsticks. “You need a fork?”

“No.” Gideon said. He could eat cake with chopsticks fine.

Ted grinned. “All righty then,” he said. He held the cake pan over his head and headed towards the bar. “Get yourself a napkin, Whit. Cake is a coming.”

“Cake!” Whitney squealed. “Is it chocolate?”

“Is there any other type?” Ted asked.

Figuring his need to guard the door was over. Gideon sat down on the edge of the couch. He cut the slice in half with one chopstick and then used both to pick it up. He took a bite. Cake was cake in his opinion and it was better not to waste any.

Eberron came out and leaned against the frame. “I’m disappointed.”

Gideon raised an eyebrow.

“I was hoping for more of a fight,” Eberron said and rubbed his chin. “There weren’t any punches thrown.”

Gideon swallowed. “What’s next, a mud pit?”

Eberron grinned. “That I would pay to see,” he said. “There would have been more competition if Brand was open to suggestions.”

Quinn sat up. “Brand, suggestions, in the same sentence?”

“Our illustrious leader does seem to have something against that word.” Eberron nodded.

Ashley stalked past them without a saying anything.

Quinn muttered, “And there goes angry disappointment.”

Eberron snorted. “Her entourage will find her, cheer her up, and she’ll let it go.”

“But she won’t forget,” Quinn said.

Eberron shrugged. “There is a lot of disappointment tonight, but Brand decides what Brand decides.”

Gideon kept his eyes on his cake. They were making this whole sponsorship thing sound awfully important. He didn’t understand, and instead of making himself look like an idiot and ask a question that no one seemed willing to answer, he picked up the other half of the cake with his chopsticks and ate it.

Savannah pushed away from the table. She got up and kissed Brand’s cheek. “Night, Grandfather,” she said.

Gideon stopped chewing. He stared at his plate not seeing it at all. Brand was Savannah’s grandfather. He swallowed, hard. The whole picture was becoming a tad less cloudy. Reese had said Brand and Savannah were family. That wasn’t exactly the family he expected. He had better not screw anything up or Brand would be down on him like a ton of bricks. He wiped his mouth and contemplated how deep he’d gotten and how quickly.

Eberron stared at him. “You didn’t know that,” he muttered.

“No. Why should I know that?” Gideon hissed back. He hadn’t been part of the Club a week yet. And with all the hugging and kissing that went on, he didn’t have a clue who was related to who or who was dating who or married or anything yet.

Eberron choked and his shoulders shook.

Savannah stopped in the doorway. The room quieted for a moment. Her eyes swept the place to see who was there and as quickly as the room quieted, people started talking again. “All right, Prospect, you’re released from guard duty,” she said and waved her hands like this was a magical incantation. “The rest of the night is your own.”

Gideon contemplated saluting but his hands were full. He nodded.

Eberron rubbed his hands together. “Good, I’ve got plans.”

“Oh boy,” Savannah said. She held up a hand. “No. Don’t tell me.” She didn’t want to know. She had things to do herself. “Keep him in one piece.”

Eberron grinned. “I can do that.”

“I mean it, Eberron,” Savannah said. She needed Gideon tomorrow. For once, she wouldn’t have to go through the whole routine of choosing lots and Ted’s list of synonyms for torture. She had her own prospect to order about.

“Cross my heart,” Eberron said and used a finger to cross over his chest.

Savannah sighed. She walked over to Gideon. “I will see you tomorrow, Prospect,” she said softly. She leaned in and brushed a kiss across his lips, gentle, lingering, and Gideon didn’t dare move. “Sleep sweet,” she said, turned around and walked away.

Gideon stared after her again, his mind totally and completely blank. He licked his lips and they tasted sweet, like berries.

“Wow,” Quinn said. “Just, wow.” He got up.

Gideon turned to Eberron. “I need a drink,” he said.

“I thought you would.” Eberron grinned and put his arm around his shoulders. “I know the place.”

Gideon allowed himself to be pulled away.

“Uncle Will!” Savannah shouted and hugged him. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to see Brand, honey bunny.” Will hugged her back.

Savannah let him go. “You better go see him, while the seeing is good,” she said and winked.

Will laughed and tipped an imaginary hat at her. “I believe I will,” he said. He nodded at Esme and crossed the room. He entered the meeting room and pulled a chair out next to Brand. “You are a hard man to get a hold of,” he said. “I suppose with a new prospect and all.” He paused. “Is that lasagna?”

“Take some.” Brand waved a hand.

Will pulled the pan over and started eating with the serving spoon. “So, Savannah.”

“Are you here to talk about whatever brought you over two hundred miles, or my granddaughter?”

“I don’t see why we can’t talk about both,” Will said. “That is one sharp looking prospect you got there.”

Brand sighed.

---

Eberron led Gideon to a joint that wasn’t actually too far from the club in a small commercial district nested inside the main residential neighborhood. Gideon found a place to park his auto and caught up to Eberron outside an old fashioned looking building. The black sign read ‘Zeke’s’ in a fancy style silver lettering. Though the sun had yet to start setting completely, there were three small lights hovering above it, moving around illuminating the sign.

Eberron opened a heavy wooden door. The inside of the door was covered in leather and held in place with metal rivets. He clapped Gideon on the shoulder. “This,” he said, “is our bar.”

Gideon turned his head and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t we have a bar at the Club?” he asked.

“You can’t always fit everyone in there,” Eberron said. He paused. “Besides, you need to see different walls every once in a while.”

Gideon scanned the room quickly. The walls were painted the Heathens’ primary color of dark maroon. The tables and the bar were stained black and the pool tables matched the ones at the club. There wasn’t really that much of a difference between the two places from Gideon’s point of view barring decorations on the walls. He kept his face bland. “It’s painted the same way.”

Eberron looked at him. “You know, that shit is funnier when you do it to someone else.”

“Let me buy the first round to make up for it.”

Eberron tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “You’re all right, Prospect,” he said. “You’re all right.” He put an arm about Gideon’s shoulders. “Let me introduce you to the bartender. You play pool?”

“Badly, unless there is money involved.”

Eberron grinned.